Supporting plate for automatic document feeder and paper output mechanism using same

ABSTRACT

A supporting plate for an automatic document feeder, adapted to configure a plurality of paper feeding rollers installed correspondingly to a plurality of transmission wheels, and used for transmitting a document to a paper output tray, the supporting plate including a plate body, including a plurality of accepting holes and adapted to install the plurality of paper feeding rollers, the plurality of paper feeding rollers and the plurality of transmission wheels drive the document move along a paper output direction toward the paper output tray; and a plurality of supporting portions, disposed at sides of the plurality of accepting holes along the paper output direction, and used for supporting the document to cause the document to form a curved body while being moved. A paper output mechanism using the aforementioned supporting plate is also disclosed here.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 98119361 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Jun. 10, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a supporting plate, and more particularly to a supporting plate for an automatic document feeder and a paper output mechanism using the supporting plate.

BACKGROUND

Accompanying the progress of technology, business machines corresponding to computer peripherals such as printers, scanners, facsimile machines have proved so useful in increasing information processing efficiency, that they have become extremely popular. Furthermore, accompanying the technological development of one machine with multiple function, more and more business machines are provided with functions such as facsimile, scanning, photo-offset and printing; not only ensuring that the business machines have the capability to process multiple document types, but allowing the volume of such machines to be reduced. In addition, the assembly procedures thereof are simple, connecting them with a telephone line, a network cable and power cord, and they can then be used by collocating with a computer, all of which contributes positively to their popularity.

A comprehensive survey of business machines such as printers, photocopiers, scanners and facsimile machines reveals that they are all equipped with an automatic document feeder (ADF) into which paper can be fed sheet by sheet. When a double faced scan or photocopy is processed, the conventional automatic document feeder drives a motor which rotates causing paper to reverse direction and be pulled back after the scanning or photocopy of the first face of the paper is completed, and the scanning or photocopy operation procedures of the second face thereof are then processed. When a double faced scan or photocopy of multiple sheets of paper is carried out, paper will be output onto a paper output tray along the supporting plate of the conventional automatic document feeder after the operation procedures of the first paper are completed. Thereafter, the scanning or photocopy operation procedures of the second paper are carried out.

However, when the motor is driven so that it rotates, cause the paper to reverse direction and be pulled back, the action can easily cause the previous output paper to be pulled back together with the current sheet, causing the paper to be stuck such that the scan or photocopy cannot continue.

SUMMARY

To improve a paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder and prevent pull-back happening after paper is output, the present invention is proposed. The present invention proposes a supporting plate for an automatic document feeder, installed with a plurality of paper feeding rollers corresponding to a plurality of transmission wheels, adapted to deliver documents to a paper output tray, where the supporting plate includes: a plate body, including a plurality of accepting holes used for accepting a plurality of paper feeding rollers, where the plurality of paper feeding rollers and the plurality of transmission wheel drive documents to move along a paper output direction toward the paper output tray, and a plurality of supporting portions, disposed on sides of the plurality of accepting holes along the paper output direction and used for supporting the document, ensures that each document forms a curved body while being moved.

The present invention also proposes a paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder, including: a paper output tray; a plurality of transmission wheels; a plurality of paper feeding rollers disposed correspondingly to the plurality of transmission wheels; a plate body, including a plurality of accepting holes used for accepting a plurality of paper feeding rollers, where the plurality of paper feeding rollers and the plurality of transmission wheels drive documents to move along a paper output direction toward the paper output tray, and a plurality of supporting portions, disposed on sides of the plurality of accepting holes along the paper output direction and used for supporting the document, ensuring that each document forms a curved body while being moved.

Accordingly, the top end of the supporting portion is higher than the top end of the paper feeding roller; furthermore, the supporting portion includes a first end and a second end corresponding to each other, and the height of the second end is higher than the height of the first end.

The present invention disposes the plurality of supporting portions arranged distantly on the plate body, and forms a supported document to be a curved body while being output so that the output document becomes stiffer in order to cause the document to drop at a place of the paper output tray further away from the plate body while being output; this not only prevents output documents from being stacked together on the paper output tray in a disorderly manner, but also solves the problem of the pull-back of the output paper found in a conventional paper output mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more fully understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view, showing an outlook of a first preferred embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partly enlarged view, showing a portion A in FIG. 1;

FIG.3 is a cross sectional view, showing the first embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 4A and 4B are schematic views, showing the action of outputting documents of the first embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view, showing a paper output of the first embodiment according to the present;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view, showing an outlook of a second preferred embodiment according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a partly enlarged view, showing a portion B in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder of a first preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

A paper output mechanism 1 of a automatic document feeder includes a plate body 10, a transmission unit 20, a plurality of paper feeding rollers 30, a plurality of supporting portions 40 and a paper output tray 50.

the plate body 10 is approximately a rectangular sheet; it is bent and then extended in a perpendicular direction to a main body of the sheet from one end thereof; viewing the whole, the plate body 10 is approximately an L-shaped body, and is disposed with a plurality of accepting holes 11 distantly at bent extensions

The transmission unit 20 is installed at the side of the plate body 10, and disposed with a plurality of transmission wheels 21 capable of transmitting documents 8.

The plurality of paper feeding rollers 30 are respectively installed in the plurality of accepting holes 11 of the plate body 10, and correspondingly to the plurality of transmission wheels 21, where the plurality of paper feeding rollers 30 and the plurality of transmission wheels 21 drive documents 8 to move along a paper output direction.

The plurality of supporting portions 40 are installed at the sides of the plurality of accepting holes 11 of the plate body 10 along the paper output direction, where the supporting portion 40 has a first end 40 a and a second end 40 b corresponding to each other, and the second end 40 b of the supporting portion 40 is positioned at the bent extension of the plate body 10. Moreover, the height of the second end 40 b of the supporting portion 40 may preferably be greater than the height of the first end 40 a as FIG. 2 shows, and the top of the second end 40 b may preferably be higher than the top of the paper feeding roller 30 as FIG. 3 shows and close to the transmission wheel 21 of the transmission unit 20, where the supporting portion 40 may preferably be a projecting rib structure formed by extending the plate body 10 directly, but it is not limited to this according to the present invention.

The paper output tray 50 is approximately a rectangular groove installed beside the plate body 10, and the position thereof is close to the second end 40 b and the plurality of paper feeding rollers 30 of the supporting portion 40; the paper feeding tray 50 is used for supporting documents 8 transmitted by the plurality of paper feeding rollers 30 and the plurality of transmission wheels 21, where the paper output tray 50 may be disposed with supporting ribs 51 to support the documents 8 depending on a practical need.

Please refer to FIGS. 4A, 4B and 5. The document 8 is moved along a paper output direction when the transmission wheel 21 of the transmission unit 20 and the paper feeding rollers 30 cause the document 8 to move. Parts of the document 8 are supported by the plate body 10, and other parts thereof are supported by the second end 40 b of the supporting portions 40 such that the document 8 forms a continuous wave-typed curved body while being moved as FIG. 5 shows, so as to allow the document 8 to be stiffer while being output, ensuring that the document 8 can be dropped at a position of the paper output tray 50 further away from the plate body 10 while being expelled as FIG. 4B shows; this not only prevents output documents from being stacked together on the paper output tray in a disorderly manner, but solves the problem of the pull-back of the output paper found in the conventional paper output mechanism.

Please refer to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic views, showing a paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder of a second preferred embodiment according to the present invention. The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is in the structure of the supporting portion. In the present embodiment, the supporting portion 40 may be an elastic sheet 41; it is an independent element and is not formed by extending the plate body 10, where the elastic sheet 41 is a long strip type body, having a first end 41 a and a second end 41 b corresponding to each other. The first end 41 a of the elastic sheet 41 is fixed on the plate body 10, and the second 41 b is raised and not attached on the plate body 10, where the height of the second end 41 b may preferably be greater than the height of the first end 41a, the top of the second end 41 b may preferably be higher than the top of the paper feeding roller 30 to be close to the transmission wheel 21 of the transmission unit 30. Therefore, parts of the document 8 are supported by the plate body 10 and other parts thereof are supported by the second end 41 b of the elastic sheet 41 during the transmission of the document 8 such that the document 8 forms a continuous wave-typed curved body while being moved as FIG. 5 shows.

The present invention is constituted by a very simple supporting portion structure, and uses a plate body and a supporting portion to support a document simultaneously, causing the document to form a curved body during transmission, ensuring that the output document is stiffer and can be dropped at a position of the a paper output tray further away from the plate body while being expelled; this not only allows the output documents to be stacked on the paper output tray more neatly, but also prevents the output paper from being pulled back when the document is reversed and pulled back.

While the present invention has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. 

1. A supporting plate for an automatic document feeder, adapted to configure a plurality of paper feeding rollers correspondingly to a plurality of transmission wheels, and used for transmitting a document to a paper output tray, the supporting plate comprising: a plate body, comprising a plurality of accepting holes and adapted to install the plurality of paper feeding rollers, the plurality of paper feeding rollers and the plurality of transmission wheels drive the document to move along a paper output direction toward the paper output tray; and a plurality of supporting portions, disposed at sides of the plurality of accepting holes along the paper output direction, and used for supporting the document to cause the document to form a curved body while being moved.
 2. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein a top of the supporting portion is higher than a top of the paper feeding roller.
 3. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion comprises a first end and a second end corresponding to each other, the height of the second end is grater than the height of the first end.
 4. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 3, wherein the second end of the supporting portion is closer to the paper output tray than the first end thereof.
 5. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion is formed by extending the plate body.
 6. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion is an elastic sheet.
 7. A paper output mechanism for an automatic document feeder, comprising: a paper output tray; a plurality of transmission wheels; a plurality of paper feeding rollers, installed correspondingly to the plurality of transmission wheels; a plate body, comprising a plurality of accepting holes and adapted to install the plurality of paper feeding rollers, the plurality of paper feeding rollers and the plurality of transmission wheels drive the document to move along a paper output direction toward the paper output tray; and a plurality of supporting portions, disposed at sides of the plurality of accepting holes along the paper output direction, and used for supporting the document to cause the document to form a curved body while being moved.
 8. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 7, wherein a top of the supporting portion is higher than a top of the paper feeding roller.
 9. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 7, wherein the supporting portion comprises a first end and a second end corresponding to each other, the height of the second end is grater than the height of the first end.
 10. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 9, wherein the second end of the supporting portion is closer to the paper output tray than the first end thereof.
 11. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 7, wherein the supporting portion is formed by extending the plate body.
 12. The supporting plate for an automatic document feeder according to claim 7, wherein the supporting portion is an elastic sheet. 